A parametric study of the 2D model of solar air heater with elliptical rib roughness using CFD

Abstract

The heat transfer can be improved by providing artificial roughness on absorber plate of the solar air heat. Many studies are available on circular, semi-circular, triangular and rectangular rib roughened solar air heater. But in present study heat transfer enhancement by providing elliptical ribs on absorber plate was analyzed by developing CFD code on non-commercial ANSYS (Fluent) 12.1 software. The simulations were performed on 2-D CFD model and analysis was carried out to study the effect of relative roughness width, relative roughness height and relative roughness pitch on heat transfer and friction factor. The Reynolds number range from 4000 to 15000 and turbulence phenomena is modeled by using Reynolds-average Navier-Stokes equations (RANS). The mathematical modeling is validated and compared with available results. The strong vortex formation takes place in the main stream flow because of elliptical roughness, which improved heat transfer augmentation in the solar air heater. The local turbulence kinetic energy strongly influenced by orientation of the elliptical ribs. The value of average Nusselt number increases by increasing relative roughness height but it decreases with the increase of relative roughness width and relative roughness pitch. The rib width has significant effects on heat transfer enhancement and maximum Nusselt number is observed for relatively small roughness width (i.e., 0.5) among the considered range of 0.5 mm to 2.0 mm. The maximum value of Nusselt number and friction factor is observed for relative roughness width of 0.5, relative roughness height of 0.045, and relative roughness pitch of 6.